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New Year, New Personal Best

Gym equipment
Article Highlights:

  • Let your chat do the heavy lifting; you be the spotter.
  • Progress takes time to develop, but the results are worth it.

With the new year comes new opportunities for change. It’s time to reflect on the year past and look to the future, with goals for improvement. Personal improvement can be physical, mental, spiritual and so much more. For many individuals, getting physically fit is top of mind; but progress requires consistency and dedication. Showing up to the gym on a consistent schedule is one step closer to reaching your goal. For those that are new to physical activity or just need that extra push, a personal trainer may be a good option. They can help motivate you to be your best.

So, what does this have to do with your dealership? Similarly, your chat provider needs to be dedicated to constantly developing its chat’s intelligence to not only be the best, but to continue to beat its personal best. I believe that the Greek philosopher Heraclitus says it best, that “change is the only constant in life.”

Once you start meeting your goals consistently, it’s time to level up. You are seeing the progress and are motivated to keep pushing yourself; so you may not need a personal trainer anymore. Maybe all you need is a gym buddy to be your spotter waiting on the side to step in if you need help. At your dealership, let your chat agency continue to carry the conversation, and have a process in place so your dynamite salespeople can jump into the conversation at any time, like answering very specific questions meant for experts or moving the chat through the funnel and into a potential sale.

While it is important to keep a consistent schedule at the gym, be sure to schedule in some rest days as well. Your body also needs time to rest and recuperate from the all of the hard work that you are putting in. Similarly, the perfect chat providers offer a good balance of intelligent automation, while also providing opportunities for human-to-human connection through live chat. Let your AI and chat agents—the best providers offer 24/7 support and service! —do the heavy lifting to carry the conversation, and your salesperson can be their spotter – assisting when conversations reach a certain engagement point.

In your dealership, if your chat function is disconnected from your other tools, like your CRM or even appointment scheduler, it’s going to work in a silo. Information won’t carry over from the chat to your actual calendar and you could miss out on valuable opportunities. A connected chat should be able to follow the customer through their online journey and provide relevant, helpful information as they move through different buying phases. It should also connect seamlessly with your CRM and DMS so that appointments are scheduled correctly and your sales team can have informed and timely follow-up.

It’s never too late to set goals for improvement, and as long as you are able to stay on track with your changes you will begin to see progress. In a time where the car buying process has changed so drastically, it’s important to be able to reach your customers and answer their questions wherever they are. How do you plan to improve your chat experience this year?

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Director, Brand Marketing, Reynolds and Reynolds

Ashley is Director of Marketing Communications for Reynolds and Reynolds. In her 10 years with Reynolds, she has managed the marketing strategy for several key Reynolds solutions and branding initiatives. Today, she leads the U.S. and Canadian marketing teams to drive brand awareness, product penetration, and content strategy for Reynolds and other key brands within the Reynolds Retail Management System.

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